How Not To Follow People On Twitter
Here’s another one to file under Captain Obvious is obvious…
There are people I like, people I admire, people I feel are extremely insightful and worth listening to, but if I follow them on Twitter I know that they would drive me annoyed. How do I know this? Because I have done exactly that. I have followed these people, read their Twitter feeds, and become annoyed by their floodlighting. Of course, I probably have a low personal threshold for what is and isn’t floodlighting. Some folks might not mind things I do. Some folks default to hugs. I default to distant nods and maybe a handshake because anything beyond that is inherently suspicious. Other folks might operate their twitter like a traffic cop, muting people for a bit, listening for a bit. I don’t have the will, patience, or time to do that with the attention required. So what to do?
Answer: Follow other people who follow those people you like, and rely on that first group to filter the latter. And so far it’s worked pretty well. The folks I admire and find insightful remain so without drowning me in their moment to moment tribulations, squeegasms, and would-be stand-up routines.
Yesterweird 
Never heard “floodlighting” used this way, and not sure exactly what it means. Is this senescence?
It’s a Brene Brownism that means over-sharing like someone’s shining a floodlight in your face.
Ah. I like Brown. Useful expression. Thanks.
She nuances it a bit more than my description, but that’s the gist.
Hah! I was *just thinking* this morning that it can be beneficial to read [famous person]’s tweets only when retweeted by someone else. I hadn’t gotten so far as to put anything in practice though. My twitter is like a very messy room (both the list of tweets I’m reading and the stuff I’m tweeting or retweeting)–totally haphazard and rather unappealing. … I guess I’m not a very good fit for Twitter. But I like company, and it does provide that!
I’m certainly no expert on twitter either and likely share your messy room characteristics.